• Log In

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

A Philosophy Podcast and Philosophy Blog

Subscribe on Android Spotify Google Podcasts audible patreon
  • Home
  • Podcast
    • PEL Network Episodes
    • Publicly Available PEL Episodes
    • Paywalled and Ad-Free Episodes
    • PEL Episodes by Topic
    • Nightcap
    • (sub)Text
    • Pretty Much Pop
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • Phi Fic Podcast
    • Combat & Classics
    • Constellary Tales
  • Blog
  • About
    • PEL FAQ
    • Meet PEL
    • About Pretty Much Pop
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • Meet Phi Fic
    • Listener Feedback
    • Links
  • Join
    • Become a Citizen
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Log In
  • Donate
  • Store
    • Episodes
    • Swag
    • Everything Else
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My Account
  • Contact
  • Mailing List

Civics via Schoolhouse Rock

November 13, 2012 by Seth Paskin 3 Comments


During our recording on the Federalist Papers, we mentioned at some point Schoolhouse Rock, a PBS television series that ran regularly when I was a child. For anyone who doesn't know, it was a cartoon with skits and songs about grammar, science, civics, American History and some other topics.  In addition to state and federal civics classes in junior high and high school (do they still teach these) it was a primary learning aid for my generation.

While I'm more familiar with Conjunction Junction and A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing there are some salient little ditties about the American Revolution, Declaration of Independence and even a musical version of the Preamble to the Constitution (which is how I and I suspect many of my peers know it - I can't recite it, only sing it).

While doing a little scouring after this election, Mark found this great resource of Schoolhouse Rock lyrics and I was reminded of this less well known but interesting vignette on the Electoral College.  There is a sly little bit in the middle about how if you win the state popular vote even by a 'hair' you get all the electoral votes and that's considered 'fair'.   Given how tight the last US Presidential election was, it really highlights how odd the system actually is.  Personally I think there is something wonky about it, which I tried to articulate in this blog post and did so poorly and for which I was called out.

Now that we've moved beyond the election to the impending "fiscal cliff" and the fear mongers are in full swing, I'd like to suggest that you check another obscure Schoolhouse Rock cartoon, Tyrannosaurus Debt.  It will remind you that as a nation we have been paying for wars and expansion almost our entire history.  Given that one of the primary arguments in the Federalist papers for a strong international military is to protect our economic interests, it should come as no surprise that the two are intertwined.  We need a strong military (particularly Navy) to protect commerce, which in turn we must tax to pay for the military.

So take a moment to consider what Schoolhouse Rock has to say about taxation.  Or just groove to the coolest (and most philosophical and religious) SR song:

--seth

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Filed Under: Misc. Philosophical Musings, Web Detritus Tagged With: Federalist Papers, philosophy blog, schoolhouse rock, taxation

Comments

  1. Daniel Horne says

    November 13, 2012 at 7:00 pm

    Nice, but verbs are what’s happening:

    http://youtu.be/US8mGU1MzYw

    I vote, I win, I smile…

    Reply
    • Seth Paskin says

      November 13, 2012 at 8:00 pm

      Good point. Apparently African-Americans are more active than Whites (verb vs. noun). I remember 3 being more funky but I may be channeling De La Soul.

      Reply
  2. Joan says

    November 14, 2012 at 5:44 am

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0&feature=related

    my fav was always ‘i’m just a bill’ (after conjunction junction, of course)… i still sing it to myself!
    as a teacher of adolescents with developmental disabilities, i used all of these videos. with topics from civics, math and english to science and social studies, they are valuable as really fantastic instructional tools, and kids still respond to them!
    nice. thanks for the smile.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Citizenship has its Benefits

Become a PEL Citizen
Become a PEL Citizen, and get access to all paywalled episodes, early and ad-free, including exclusive Part 2's for episodes starting September 2020; our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more causally; a community of fellow learners, and more.

Rate and Review

Nightcap

Listen to Nightcap
On Nightcap, listen to the guys respond to listener email and chat more casually about their lives, the making of the show, current events and politics, and anything else that happens to come up.

Subscribe to Email Updates

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Support PEL

Buy stuff through Amazon and send a few shekels our way at no extra cost to you.

Tweets by PartiallyExLife

Recent Comments

  • Evan Hadkins on Ep. 296: Heidegger Questions Being (Part Two for Supporters)
  • Tony L on Science, Religion, and Secularism Part XXV: Charles Taylor—The Protestant Reformation and the Rise of the Disciplinary Society
  • Paul D. Van Pelt on PREVIEW-Ep. 295: Kant on Preventing War (Part Three
  • Evan Hadkins on PEL Nightcap June 2022
  • Wayne Barr on PEL Nightcap June 2022

About The Partially Examined Life

The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don’t have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we’re talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion

Become a PEL Citizen!

As a PEL Citizen, you’ll have access to a private social community of philosophers, thinkers, and other partial examiners where you can join or initiate discussion groups dedicated to particular readings, participate in lively forums, arrange online meet-ups for impromptu seminars, and more. PEL Citizens also have free access to podcast transcripts, guided readings, episode guides, PEL music, and other citizen-exclusive material. Click here to join.

Blog Post Categories

  • (sub)Text
  • Aftershow
  • Announcements
  • Audiobook
  • Book Excerpts
  • Citizen Content
  • Citizen Document
  • Citizen News
  • Close Reading
  • Combat and Classics
  • Constellary Tales
  • Exclude from Newsletter
  • Featured Article
  • General Announcements
  • Interview
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Misc. Philosophical Musings
  • Nakedly Examined Music Podcast
  • Nakedly Self-Examined Music
  • NEM Bonus
  • Not School Recording
  • Not School Report
  • Other (i.e. Lesser) Podcasts
  • PEL Music
  • PEL Nightcap
  • PEL's Notes
  • Personal Philosophies
  • Phi Fic Podcast
  • Philosophy vs. Improv
  • Podcast Episode (Citizen)
  • Podcast Episodes
  • Pretty Much Pop
  • Reviewage
  • Song Self-Exam
  • Things to Watch
  • Vintage Episode (Citizen)
  • Web Detritus

Follow:

Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Apple Podcasts

Copyright © 2009 - 2022 · The Partially Examined Life, LLC. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Copyright Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in